8. Bianca del Castana - 01
8. Bianca del Castana - 01
...A story that has been utterly forgotten. A story that no one remembers anymore.
Even if it fades from the minds of everyone in this world, the moments I shared with you remain unfading in my memory.
That day, you told me that we would one day surely be together. That we would one day surely find happiness.
I believed those words and waited for you for countless hours. For all those hours, I simply walked on without looking back. Just like that, I continued the long journey with my heart locked up tight.
And so I walked, and walked, and walked, without rest, just kept walking. I walked until my mind grew hazy. All for the moment when I could finally be with you, I waited, and waited, and did nothing but wait.
At the end of it all, I grew exhausted. I no longer had the confidence to fight my way through this lonely, endless journey. The childhood promise I had treasured so dearly felt as though it had fallen into a drab reality and now lay discarded on the floor.
I was sad. I was simply sad, wondering why, in my entire life, I could never have a single moment when I got what I truly wanted.
...But even so, I could not bring myself to hate him. Even if he had forgotten everything we shared in our childhood, even if I was nothing more than a foolish woman for keeping that promise so preciously.
Because I still love you.
****
A thousand years ago, there lived a man who was the greatest mage under the heavens, revered by all the world. His name was Castana. In an era when the study of magic was still nothing more than sorcery that mimicked natural phenomena, he was a legendary archmage who displayed divine feats on par with the mages of today.
After a single great empire was established across the continent, Castana received the title of Marquis from the Emperor. Over the thousand years since, House Castana firmly cemented its status as the prestigious house of magic across the entire continent.
It was only natural. Archmages are so rare that no more than five appear in a single generation. Yet House Castana consistently produced an archmage in every generation. They were more than qualified to uphold their reputation as a prestigious magical lineage.
...However, the mages of Castana themselves had absolutely no interest in how the world perceived them or what judgments it passed. To the mages of Castana, the fame of being a prestigious magical house was nothing but an inflated reputation.
Because they themselves knew better than anyone that the current House Castana did not deserve such an evaluation. They were slowly declining, even at this very moment, and on the verge of ruin.
A thousand years ago, in a barbaric age when the study of magic had not yet developed and a mage's standing fell below that of ignorant swordsmen, records still remained of the unprecedented genius born into that era. Castana was a true 'mage' who could casually perform miracles that, even by modern standards, would be called nothing short of miracles—overturning the weather itself or shaking the laws of the world with his fingertips.
And now, a thousand years later, even though the study of magic had advanced at a dazzling pace incomparable to that era, in the past thousand years, no one in House Castana had been able to claim they surpassed the realm reached by the first Marquis Castana. No, rather, the magical talent inherent in the Castana bloodline had been gradually thinning with each passing generation.
In the end, the mages of Castana grew anxious. The burden of potentially tarnishing the great name of Castana from a thousand years ago began to tighten around their hearts. Just as the neighboring Estel Duchy had fallen into a state that was nothing like its former glory a thousand years ago, they were seized by the fear that they too might follow in the exact same footsteps as the Estel Duchy.
They could not, under any circumstances, accept such an end. It absolutely could not happen. As it had for the past thousand years, the name Castana must continue to be called the foremost house of magic for all eternity.
Thus, everyone bearing the name Castana put their heads together and sought a solution. After countless opinions and rebuttals were exchanged, they finally arrived at a conclusion brimming with madness, an utterly insane conclusion.
It was obvious that the first Marquis Castana from a thousand years ago was an unparalleled, excellent mage. However, the problem was that the magical talent originating from his bloodline grew thinner as it passed down through the generations. If so, the answer was truly simple. Wouldn't it be simpler to 'create' an excellent successor with talents equal to the first Marquis Castana with their own hands?
And so, the mad experiment began. After collecting blood from those in House Castana deemed to possess outstanding magical talent, they used alchemy to artificially 'produce' children with excellent magical talent from that blood.
...But that alone was not enough. Over the past thousand years, the great Castana bloodline had grown too thin through the generations. They craved a slightly thicker concentration of Castana blood.
They forcibly accelerated the growth of the artificially 'crafted' children using magic, and by forcibly 'breeding' them, they sought to create a superior child with even more outstanding talent and a thicker concentration of the Castana bloodline.
And so, thirty years passed.
Countless 'test subjects' died during the experiment process, and as if to replace them, countless more 'test subjects' were born. But despite the many geniuses of Castana clinging to this experiment, an outstanding result was not so easily born. After experiencing so much failure, just as everyone was growing weary and questioning whether this was truly the right path, they finally succeeded in creating the supreme test subject they had so eagerly desired and hoped for.
Not only did she have a body absolutely flawless for learning magic, having received 'Mana's Blessing' from the very moment of her birth, but she was a truly perfect entity capable of accumulating Magic Power in her body simply by breathing. They had finally succeeded in creating such a being.
The test subject's designation was Number 541.
It was the greatest masterpiece that would carry on the Castana name for the next thousand years.
****
The moment Number 541 was born from the researchers' fingertips, everyone in House Castana fell into a state of thrill. The level of magical talent contained within Number 541's body was so tremendous that it far exceeded the limits of current humanity. It was enough to make them think that her talent might be equal to or even greater than that of the first Marquis Castana himself.
However, Number 541 was not a result derived from research but merely a kind of mutation born from a chain of coincidences. Those who could be called her creators gathered together and tried to artificially replicate a being like Number 541, but all their attempts ended in vain.
Ultimately, they realized it was impossible to create another individual identical to Number 541 and halted all experiments. And after deliberation, they decided to bestow the Castana surname upon Number 541 and give her a name.
The name given to Number 541 was Bianca. It was a name taken from the only daughter of the first Marquis Castana.
- Number 541. From this moment on, your name is Bianca. Your name shall be Bianca del Castana of House Castana, and you will be introduced to the world as the only daughter of Sion del Castana, the head of House Castana. As you now bear the name Castana, behave in a manner that does not shame it. Bear in mind that your life is in our grasp. And never forget that your true purpose is that of a weapon.
Those were the first words she ever heard from the man who would be her 'father'. Naturally, they were bitterly cold and cruel words, without a single ounce of affection mixed in.
And so, a farce so absurd it would make one laugh out loud began. A man who thought of his daughter only as a test subject and a weapon, harboring no affection for her, played the role of a father, while she, nothing more than an 'object' crafted by human hands who did not know her real parents, played the part of a daughter.
'...I hate it.'
Number 541—no, the girl now called Bianca del Castana—simply hated it. What did she hate? She simply hated everything.
She hated House Castana, which had created her without a father or mother. She hated Marquis Castana, who knew her origins better than anyone yet shamelessly called himself her 'father'. And she hated herself, born into such a state, and she hated the world that had brought her into existence. She just hated all of it, despised it, loathed it.
...She loathed it all. After loathing so much that she almost forgot what exactly she was supposed to loathe, she came to loathe the world itself.
From the very moment of her birth, nothing was by her will. Living her current life was not her will, and even her own death lay in a domain completely outside her control.
She wanted to commit suicide if she could, but if she took her own life, House Castana might use her corpse to carry out yet another mad experiment. That would solve nothing. Bianca never wanted another pitiful test subject like herself to be created and suffer the same agony she did. One unfortunate tool like herself was more than enough.
Thus, she could only lament. Why had she been born into this world? What was she living for? Did a monster like her, born not from a goddess but crafted by human hands, even have as much worth as other people? Why did the world surrounding her hate her so much—
Nowhere in the world was there anyone who took Bianca's side. Everyone in House Castana only shunned her, and the very few who knew the truth only sneered at her.
In the end, she was a machine, a tool, nothing more than a weapon. The people of the world treated her as such, and she herself saw herself no differently.
Bianca believed the world was colorless. Everywhere she looked, there was affection for someone, love for another, but in her hands, they always brimmed over and slipped through her fingers like sand.
No matter how much she thought about it, her life had no worth. There was no hope in sight. She was now even exhausted from yearning for someone who would understand her, cherish her, and love her.
Just as Bianca was endlessly falling deeper into the unending darkness, a miracle suddenly arrived.
In Bianca's life, where nothing had existed, a single person appeared who taught her happiness, taught her hope, awakened her will to live, and ultimately saved her.
His name was Kain von Estel.
He was her savior, who illuminated her world—which had always been colorless—with a beautifully vibrant, multicolored brilliance.